Thursday Mike (the 3rd) spent the evening avoiding the foul weather by training with me in the hanger. Motor work and some simulator drills were the plan.
Friday Mark stopped out with the hopes of getting some flying in after the gusts calmed down. Unfortunately, one of the powerful gusts pulled the wing he was kiting into a runway light causing a small tear and ending any hope of flying that night. No big deal, I’ll simply fold it up nice and ship it off to my favorite repair shop in Arizona to get it repaired.
Saturday we spent at the park in Oconomowoc. First up was Mikey, he made 5 flights that morning before calling it a day. His take offs improved dramatically with every flight! Then it was kiting practice for Ken and Kevin. The winds were very light so there was lots of running involved. Dane rolled in about 3 and started prepping to make some flights. He unboxed his new wing and was generous enough to let me be the first to fly it. I love this job! Dane’s skills and confidence are increasing rapidly.
Sunday started with Ken hanging in the simulator running drills. Then we went to the sledding hill to meet Kevin and Mike for a very wet day of first flights. All three got a small taste of what is to come as the took short hops down the hill. Mariyan was there too along with Lenin and Charles. The wings gradually got heavier and heavier as the held onto more and more water. Eventually we all had enough and called it quits.
Then it was back to the hanger for me to lay the soaking wet wings out to dry.
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Wednesday morning I met Mariyan, Nia, Lenin and Samantha in Sauk City with the goal of towing Lenin and Mariyan. The winds took longer to build then forecast so we ended up “Para-waiting” for nearly an hour before pulling them into the crisp morning air. It was worth the wait, we managed to get them a bit over 2,000’ AGL before they released and soared the sky. Lenin remarked on the beautiful view comparing it to his homeland of Ecuador.
The evening was spent at the airport with Mark and Ben adding to their flying time. Mark unboxed his new Macpara Charger and made three successful flights. The last was after sunset with the strobe light on.
Brad and Jason dropped in to check things out too. Apparently they’ve been watching hours of YouTube Paramotoring videos and wants to see it in person to decide if it was something they really wanted to do. When I heard them cheer as Ben stuck his landing, I knew they were hooked!

Lots has happened since the last post...
Thursday, Kevin, Nick, Nick’s friend Justin and I visited the EAA museum to hear a presentation by Jeff Goin, the president of the USPPA and author of The PPG Bible. Turns out Jeff is a pretty good speaker, most entertaining. Then the museum opened a couple display aircraft cockpits for us to climb into, SO COOL!
Friday was crazy windy so no training. I did however finally get the Jeep back with its new clutch, yay! Then spent the rest of the day working on the machines and submiting paperwork.
Saturday was super busy. Started at sunrise with a nice cross country flight with Jake. Then switched to kiting with Ken and Kevin. Mike was there too refining his wing handling skills in preparation for flying later in the day. Michael number 3 dropped in to check things out before committing to training. (He committed and we started Monday after work) As soon as the thermals settled, Mike was in the air adding to his flight time. Todd rolled in late in the day and helped me lay out Mike’s wing before launches. I ended the day with a great sunset flight with Todd.
Ken and Kevin returned Sunday morning to continue their training. Del stopped in to see what Madcity Paragliding was all about before he begins lessons on Wednesday. Chuck and I were going to go flying Sunday evening but after checking the forecast at the field one last time we decided to postpone because of some strong gusts that were expected. Turns out the gusts were very mild and we ended up missing what would have been a great flight.
Monday evening I met Mike the 3rd and we dove head first into his quest for flight. Although he was a bit overwhelmed at first, he picked up the major points rather quickly and by the end of the session it was obvious that things were starting to click. Nice work Mike!
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Great news guys, the weightshift Miniplane with the Moster 185+ is here! I put it together this morning and am headed to the hanger to break it in today! SO EXCITED!!

Monday afternoon Andy returned to the airfield to get serious about pursuing his dream of paramotoring. He took to this new task naturally and was soon executing reverse launches consistently. Way to go Andy!
Cole arrived early to practice kiting before his scheduled graduation flight. The wind settled to almost nothing before we took to the skies for a sunset cruise around the area. Jake dropped in to join us on the flight. Conditions were perfect, 80 degrees and silky smooth. Technically this was Jake’s graduation flight too as the weather forced us to cancel his scheduled cross country flight earlier this spring. Congratulations guys!! Have fun and be safe!

Saturday- Intro for Andy - he’s in and starts Monday
training for Ken began. He ended up spending the entire day! He’s hooked.
Trike training continues for Rick. Unfortunately the machine began showing signs of overheating in the hot day. I think we all were.
Then Dane added to his flight count and skills.
Chuck also stopped by to fly.
Sunday Dane and I started at sunrise. He made one flight then we switched to ground school.
Dave dropped in for some help with a Carb rebuild and tune.
Todd came up from Janesville to do some kiting and potentially fly.
Chuck returned for another evening of flying at the airport.
Dane went on to add even more flights to his log book. He now has about half the needed 25 flights to earn his PPG2 rating.
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The nice weather continues to bring great flying conditions.
Today Kevin a I spent the day working on ground handling skills and completing his PPG1 ground school training. Unfortunately, with the calm breeze it meant lots of running in the heat but he remained in good spirits and we both enjoyed the day.
The evening was spent with Mark running airborne drills. Mark took full advantage of the calm conditions and made 8 flights today. After today’s efforts he is well on the way to earning his PPG2 rating. Way to go Mark!

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Busy couple of days at the hanger.
Wednesday Gabe stopped by with his Dad to take a tandem flight with Mariyan. He wanted to confirm PPG was something he wanted to get into. I’m pretty sure he was convinced before he even left the ground.
Mike and Paul, a couple of Madcity Paragliding graduates, were also on hand to enjoy the great evening. Mike actually drove all the way from Duluth to be there!
Adam nearly completed the required 25 flights he needs to earn his PPG2 rating. His flight count now sits at 24. Just one more and he will be released to fly on his own!
Thursday I met Ed from Superior for the complimentary hour and a half orientation which ended up taking a bit over three hours by the time we parted ways. He tried on a couple motors, sat in the simulator and even played with the wings a bit. PPG is one of the few things left on Ed’s bucket list.
After that I spent the evening with Dane. We were able to get a couple of nice flights in before he ran out of gas and the mosquitoes became intolerable. Way to go Dane!

WOW!! Three 1st flights in one evening! 1st Dane then Mike and then Mark!! Way to go guys!
The conditions in Oconomowoc tonight were perfect for flying. A nice steady breeze at about 6mph and not a cloud in the sky. Both Dane and Mark when on to add a second flight to the books before the sun went down. Unfortunately we ran out of daylight before Mike had a chance to go up again.

With the Jeep in the shop I’ve been forced to get creative with the wife’s RAV4. This proves you don’t need a trailer to haul a trike around.
Kevin and I spent the afternoon working on wing handling skill and other ground school activities. This includes zooming around the airport with the trike to get the feel of the power of a Paramotor. This is supposed to be fun after all.
Nick stopped down for an evening filled with forward launches and fast landings in the calm air. The gentle skies were a welcome change compared to yesterday’s bumpy rides.